Brian Edward Sandoval (/ˈsændəˌvɔːl/ SAN-də-vawl; born August 5, 1963) is an American politician, academic administrator, and former federal judge who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019.

[8] Sandoval passed the Nevada and California bar exams and entered private practice with several Reno law firms.

[8] Sandoval sponsored 14 bills that became law—including some that prevented felons from suing victims if they are injured committing a crime, increased the penalties for operating a boat under the influence, and allowed indigent defendants to perform community service to defray their legal costs.

[10] His primary major party opposition was Democratic attorney John Hunt from Las Vegas, whom Sandoval defeated by a margin of 58.32% to 33.63% on November 5, 2002.

[12] While Attorney General, Sandoval led the state's legal fight against the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, developed Nevada's first Public Integrity Unit and sponsored legislation strengthening Nevada's laws against domestic violence, drug abuse and human trafficking.

[5][9] In the fall of 2004, Democratic Senator Harry Reid spoke with Sandoval about whether he was interested in serving as a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, and that December, Reid recommended to President George W. Bush that he nominate Sandoval to a future opening on that court.

It contained a number of reforms that include ending teacher tenure as well as the practice of deciding layoffs based solely on teacher seniority, allowing local governments to re-open employee contracts during financial emergencies as well as barring collective bargaining by supervisors, and eliminating retirement health insurance for new state employees hired after January 1, 2012.

On September 11, 2014, Sandoval signed a package bill to provide $1.3 billion in tax breaks and subsidies over 20 years for Tesla Motors in exchange for building the massive Gigafactory 1 battery factory in the state, near Reno.

The factory is key to Nevada's efforts to revitalize its economy, which was hard-hit by the mortgage meltdown and the Great Recession and has yet to fully recover.

The reforms substantially increased funding for public schools and grants and created incentives to recruit more teachers and promote professional training.

[30] Sandoval is widely regarded as a moderate Republican, supporting abortion, Obamacare, immigration reform, and renewable energy.

On October 14, 2016, Sandoval signed a bill that would provide $750 million in public funding for Allegiant Stadium which would open four years later for the Raiders and the UNLV Rebels football program in July 2020.

[37] Sandoval came under criticism in 2015 by the rooftop solar industry in Nevada after claims that the Governor failed to act on a statewide net energy metering cap of 235MW.

The cap stirred controversy due to its ability to negatively affect the future of the largely successful solar industry in Nevada, specifically related to the loss of thousands of in-state jobs.

[38][39] A statewide study conducted by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada previously deemed net metering a benefit to all ratepayers.

This resulted in layoffs of many recently hired Nevadans, signaling the future of the industry in Nevada without net metering.

The company claims that the public has the right to know the impact those relationships have had on critical policy decisions, including the rooftop solar debate.

The aftermath of the decision resulted in widespread layoffs in the state and an outpouring of consumer backlash due to the direct penalization of current and future solar customers.